Violence Against Women - What we in the US take for granted

[Sweet Bliss]

Originally Posted by Kobi

This is sickening.

Which 31 states?

[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Sweet Bliss

This is sickening.

Which 31 states?

I like knowing from whence things came. The above graphic is from a 2012 CNN story where Shauna Prewitt, a Chicago lawyer responded to Todd Akins "legitimate rape rarely results in pregnancy" comments with the story of her own rape which did result in pregnancy.

In an article in The Georgetown Law Journal in 2010, entitled "Giving Birth To A Rapists Child, A Discussion And Analysis Of The Limited Legal Protections Afforded To Women Who Become Mothers Through Rape", Prewitt explains how states have hurried to enact laws to cover the termination of a rapists legal rights in order to enable adoption, but have fallen woefully short when it comes to aid for raped women who choose to raise their raped conceived children.

Fascinating reading if you are well versed in legalese.

In 2012, the 19 states that bar rapists from custodial and visitation rights are: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Since then, a number of states have been attempting (but I cant find actual success) to enact such provisions such as Arkansas, Colorado, and Florida.

I found a really cool site from the Colorado government called "A State By State Review Of the Parental Rights Of Fathers Who Conceive A Child By Rape." Getting past the odd title, I like it because it has a chart (Kobi likes charts) of all the states, the ones with statutes and what the statutes are for i.e. adoption, custody, termination of parental rights, visitation, criminal. It also shows if conviction is required, and the burden of proof i.e. clear and convincing evidence, preponderance of evidence, beyond reasonable doubt.

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite...&ssbinary=true

[Sweet Bliss]

Thank you for all the background Kobi!

We all need to get back to our radical change roots and take back our personal power and decision making rights over our lives, bodies, children, families etc.

This is making me nauseous.

What can I do today Kobi, to create a change in my state?

[silkepus]

I saw this on tumblr, but it can't be true. Does anyone know if it is? Its almost to infuriating to consider.

[*Anya*]

Originally Posted by silkepus

I saw this on tumblr, but it can't be true. Does anyone know if it is? Its almost to infuriating to consider.

Yes, he is facing 10 years. He is not yet convicted that I could find.


Steubenville Rapist Released While Hacker Who Helped Expose Him Faces 10-Year Sentence

By Matt Essert January 9, 2014 36


Sometimes justice is not very just. Deric Lostutter, the 26-year-old hacker who went by the online alias, KYAnonymous, is facing charges after an FBI raid on his house in April for what the the agency is claiming is his illegal role in obtaining tweets and Instagram posts related to rape of a 16-year-old girl in Steubenville last year. Meanwhile, one of the two rapists Lostutter helped expose was just released from prison 10 months after being sentenced to one year in prison.

Whether or not Lostutter did any actual hacking is unclear (the social media posts were obtained legally), but the fact that he could be facing more prison time than the rapists themselves is appalling.

Although he initially denied his involvement, Lostutter eventually admitted to being the masked man in a video that threatened action against the players involved in the girl's rape and the school officials involved in the cover up and that included the heinous tweets and Instagram posts he had obtained. The video was posted to the high school football team's website and helped bring national attention to this story. A highly disturbing cellphone video (WARNING: graphic language) of students joking about the victim was also released by Anonymous, but there's no apparent connection to Lostutter.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/78...-year-sentence

[Kobi]

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — The husband of a woman stoned to death in Pakistan killed his first wife four years ago, police and relatives said Thursday, a shocking twist both showing how complicated justice can be and how dangerous life is for women in the country.

A mob of family members, including her father and brothers, beat 25-year-old Farzana Parveen to death Tuesday with bricks stolen from a construction site in the eastern city of Lahore as onlookers stood by, authorities said. Initially, many in Pakistan offered their condolences to Parveen's husband, Mohammed Iqbal, after the killing as the family apparently didn't want her to marry him.

But Thursday, Zulfiqar Hameed, deputy inspector general for Punjab police, told The Associated Press that authorities arrested Iqbal for the October 2009 killing of his first wife, Ayesha Bibi. Hameed could not offer details about the slaying, but said the case was withdrawn after a family member forgave him.

Under Pakistani law, those charged with a slaying can see their criminal case dropped if family members of the deceased forgive them or accept so-called "blood money" offerings over the crime.

Reached by the AP at his village near the town of Jaranwala, Iqbal said he could not speak because he was praying at his second wife's grave. He did not respond to other requests for comment after that.

One of Iqbal's five children, Aurang Zeb, said his father killed his mother in 2009 over a dispute. He said his father was arrested but the children later forgave him and the case was withdrawn.

"We don't want to discuss whatever had happened in the past, but I confirm that we had forgiven our father Iqbal," Zeb told the AP, adding that his father was in a state of shock after his second wife's death.

Two of Iqbal's cousins also said he killed his first wife but said he had been forgiven by one of his sons.

Pakistan, home to some 180 million people, is an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, and the majority of its citizens long have been fairly conservative. Arranged marriages are the norm among conservative Pakistanis, and hundreds of women are murdered every year in so-called honor killings carried out by husbands or relatives as a punishment for alleged adultery or other illicit sexual behavior that is perceived to bring shame upon her family.

Activists say "blood money" offerings often mean that crimes against women by their spouses or other family members are ignored.

Pakistan has one of the highest rates of violence against women globally. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a private group, said in a report last month that some 869 women were murdered in honor killings in 2013.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned Farzana Parveen's slaying in a statement Thursday, calling it "intolerable." He called on authorities in Punjab province to find the remaining culprits.

Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, also strongly condemned the slaying, saying she didn't want to call it an honor killing as "there is not the faintest vestige of honor in killing a woman in this way." She called on Pakistan's government to stop the slayings.

"The fact that she was killed on her way to court, shows a serious failure by the state to provide security for someone who — given how common such killings are in Pakistan — was obviously at risk," Pillay said in a statement Wednesday.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Thursday welcomed comments by senior Pakistani leaders condemning "this heinous crime" and hoped the perpetrators would quickly be brought to justice. She said it was at least the third so-called honor killing reported in Pakistan this week.

http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-slain...184702535.html

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[LeftWriteFemme]